The Application of Nanoparticle-Stabilized CO Foam for Oil Recovery

Abstract

This paper presents a process for CO2 foam generation in the presence of nanosilica particles as supercritical CO2 and nanosilica dispersion flow through a sandstone core at reservoir conditions of 20°C and 1,200 psig. The generation of CO2 foam was observed in an online sapphire tube. Pressure drop across the core was measured to estimate the fluid mobility and foam resistance factor. Foam mobility and particle retention were investigated and core permeability after the CO2/nanosilica dispersion flooding was also measured to determine the particle plugging in the core. The application of the nanoparticle-stabilized CO2 foam for waterfloods residual oil recovery from sandstone cores was investigated. The results indicated that nanoparticle-stabilized CO2 foam could improve oil recovery after waterfloods in both low and high permeability cores. The total oil recovery by CO2 and nanosilica flood was 48.7% from the core with permeability of 33 md and 35.8% from the core with permeability of 270 md under the pressure of 1,200 psig.